Samantha joins UN Women India to combat digital violence against women and girls

UN Women India has partnered with actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu for its 2025 “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign, bringing urgent national attention to the growing crisis of digital violence faced by women and girls. The collaboration focuses on how online abuse has moved beyond being a “virtual issue” and has become a real, everyday threat that harms reputations, mental health, careers and personal safety. Through a campaign video released on official platforms, Samantha described how violence no longer exists only in physical spaces, but now follows women onto their screens, silences their voices and destroys their dignity.

Speaking about her motivation to join the campaign, Samantha highlighted that, as a woman in the public eye, she has witnessed how deeply digital violence can affect lives. She emphasised that abusive messages, threats, deepfake images and targeted trolling are not harmless jokes but acts that leave lasting scars. She also called for stronger accountability from social media platforms and urged for better legal safeguards to protect women and girls. By lending her voice to UN Women India, she aimed to remind people that every abusive comment or manipulated image targets a real human being whose dignity deserves protection.

The partnership comes at a time when digital violence against women is rising sharply. Global research suggests that between 16 percent and 58 percent of women have experienced some form of online abuse in their lifetime. For younger women and girls, the risk is even higher, with more than half reporting harassment, threats or image-based abuse. In practical terms, this means that thousands of women are targeted every single day, millions face abuse every week, and hundreds of millions experience some form of digital violence over the course of a year. Unlike offline violence, online abuse does not stop at night or over weekends. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, often continuing for months or even years, trapping victims in a cycle of fear, anxiety and isolation.

UN Women India’s 2025 campaign also makes it clear that protecting women in digital spaces cannot be the responsibility of victims alone. Technology companies and social media giants are expected to build safer platforms by improving content moderation, strengthening reporting systems, acting quickly against harmful content and preventing the spread of deepfakes and non-consensual imagery. Governments are being urged to modernise laws, clearly criminalise cyberstalking, online harassment and image-based abuse, and train law enforcement agencies to respond sensitively and effectively to cases of digital violence.

At the same time, the campaign stresses that society and individuals carry equal responsibility. Everyday internet users are called upon to challenge abusive behaviour, refuse to normalise misogyny or hate speech, and actively support women who are targeted online. Schools, media organisations and civil society groups are encouraged to create awareness and promote digital ethics and respect from an early age. Through Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s involvement, the partnership sends a powerful message that online spaces must not remain zones of fear for women, but must be transformed into spaces of safety, dignity and freedom.

By aligning a powerful public voice with a global human rights organisation, UN Women India’s 2025 campaign aims to turn awareness into action and ensure that women and girls are protected not only on the streets and in homes, but also across screens, platforms and digital communities worldwide.